Book awards to now include finalists

Massey University's Maori Book Awards event has been shifted to next month to allow all of the finalists as well as the winners to attend the function.

Photo: Massey University

The winners were to be announced today in Wellington at a ceremony at Te Papa but has been moved to 10 December.

The Nga Kupu Ora Aotearoa Maori Book Awards have been running since 2009 to formally recognise Maori literature.

Organiser Lana Simmons-Donaldson said because the event is getting bigger every year and more people are involved, they had to change the date after sending out more invitations which now included finalists.

Ms Simmons-Donaldson said this year had seen an increase in the number of publishers involved and 12 will attend the awards and there are 16 books and finalists who they felt needed to be acknowledged.

Between 2009 and 2012, the Nga Kupu Ora Aotearoa Maori Book Awards were held the university's Palmerston North campus, but last year the venue was changed to Wellington to make it more accessible.